Statfs patfnt offfff



June 26, 1923.

1,460,107 W. G. NICHOLS CAST STEEL RAILWAY TRACK MEMBER 2 Sheets-*Sheet 1 Filed July 28 1922 June 26,1923. 1,460,107

, w. s. NIQHOLS CAST STEEL RAILWAY TRACK MEMBER Ewe/2 267;-

aijco 6.

Patented June 26, 1923.

.UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE.

WESLEY G. NICHOLS, OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, GANESE STEEL COMZPANY, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOISyASSIGNUR T0 mar-1cm mnmxnoxs, A conronmxou or 1km:

CAST-STEEL RAILWAY-TRACK MEMBER.

Application filed July 28, 1922,

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, lVEsLEY G.

Nlcnoiis.

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago Heights, in the county of State of Illinois, have and useful Irn )rovelncnts in way-Track it embers, of which ing is a specification. s

Cool: and

invented certain new Cast-Steel Railthe follow This invention relates to railway track members constructed of cast steel,

such, for

instance, as frogs, switches, switch points,

mates and crossings,

and particularly to track members produced by casting steel. for instance, manganese steel, having a composition which treatment throughout the bring the steel to its condition mass in of h necessitates uniform heat order to ighest re sistance to the wear which it encounters in service.

Track members constructed of cast lnuuganese steel have been found to resist wear phenomenally,

but they have not developed proper resistance to shocks when construct cd in accordance with prin-lu-c heretofore followed.

When the section of the metal has been restricted to insure proper heat treatment, cracks larl'y at the intersection of-llai when the metal has been increas d ness under points of have developed lJllllZlClF ewuys, and

in thickweakness thus developed, excessive pounding down of points, flowing of metal into fiangeways. and other distortions have been observed.

The object of the present invention is to provide a construction of cast steel track" members which will allord ample strength to resist cracking in weaker parts, which will admit of thorough heat treatment to develop the highest character of alloy employed, and which will, pa

the steel rticularly in the preferred construction, atlord superior support to the the track member. by providing the track stantia-l mass of integral metal vertical load imposed on This object is realized member with a sub distributed ing this mass with cavities, recesses, or

cored spaces distributed thercnver with in tervening spaces that leave between them strengthening walls advantageously positioned with reference to strains to ed, and hating dimensions restric in limits WlllCll admit of there be resistted withugh heat.

Serial 30. 578,048.

treatment, not only of the entire strengthening mass but of the normal walls of the track numhe r as well. The recesses preferably extend vertically walls ctittnd promiscuously from side to side of the member, longitudinally thereof, and on various intersecting lines so that not only do the walls bridge the distance between marginal sustaining flanges or other porlions of the track member and resist stresses which tend to crack the member, but they SQY'TC' il fi lllltfi Cl CI'OSS bI'aCES 01 One an other which greatly increases their trussing elleet. and when, as in the preferred con sir-notion, they extend vertically to the horizontal plane of supporting surfaces they may, when properly supported, afl'ord d1- reet vertical support to loads im sed upon the truck member. The genera efiect of the i-ouslruclion is cellular and there is com slant distriluuion of stresses imposed transversely upon the walls of the reinforcing unis although in the preferred embodiment and the intervening the rec-veers are defined mainly by arcuate lilies which develop fillet effects rather than angles at the intersections of the walls, thereby further safeguarding against the starting ol cracks.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustralml-- Figure l is a top plan view of a railway crossing member in the form of a stub embodying trend portions, intersecting flange ays, and marginal supporting flanges.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2"--2 of Figures 1 and Figure is a section on the line 3---3 of Figure 2: and

Figure l is a section on the line l="4 of Figures 1 and 4 l. 1' represent aligned tread portions for conti' iiu; a rail of one track, 2, 2 represent. al gland tread portions for continuin a. rail ct an intersecting track, and 3 an 4 represent llan eways appurtenant to the respective treads. which flangeways intersect at 5. in addition to these elements, the

track member and the crossing member will usually be provided with guard portions o l") and T----T; and the member will usually he proridel with supporting and spiking link 5 9.

l; nuillrg: missing section such as here selected tor :rposes of illustration,

particularly if formed of cast manganese steel, it has heretofore been customary to core the entire inner portion of the casting on lines which left continual marginal walls corresponding substantially to the portion indicated at 10 in Figure 2, and a continuous top wall such as indicated by the dotted line 11 in said figure, or by the full line 11' in Figure 4, in order to provide beneath the tread portions and fiangeways as great a thickness of metal as practicable without defeating the heat treatment of the casting. But this ractice gave rise to cracking which wouldusually start at the point 5 of intersection of the flangeways and would gradually-extend to the ends of the casting; and wherrit was sought to remedy this defeet by i creasing the volume of metal beneath the treads and flangeways, heat treatment was so far impaired as to develop segregation of the constituents of the alloy with consequent hammering down or flowing of the tread particularly at the points.

Accor to the present invention, the cavity of tie casting is filled by a substantially collit uous reinforcing mass 12 cast integrally with and underlying substantially the entire area of the track member and having dimensions which enable it to sustain the track member under all loads that it is called u on to bear, by afiordinga. substantial bridge or the distance between supporting flanges, and, furthermore, by acting as a direct supporting column if the reinforcing mass is agven' a vertical dimension which brings it to t e lower plane of the mar 'nal sustaining flanges 8 and 9. But in or er that this reinforcing mass may not defeat the 'heat treatment of the metal, and in order that stresses which are to be imposed upon it be distributed to the best advantage in a manner to insure ample strength in the resultant relativel thin walls, the mass 12 is rendered cel ular .or recessed throughout by providing a considerable number of isolated corings or cavities 13, 15, 14 16, and 17, which provide variously extending bridge walls 18, 19, 20, and 21 which intersect and reinforce one another after the manner of trussing; and these corings or cavities extend vertically from the lower plane of the castin toward the treads, guards and fiangeways ut terminate short thereof distances which leave beneath said treads, ards and fiangeways an ample thickness 0 metal to insure the integrity thereof under the loads they are intended to bear. The cores are set with particular reference to weaker portions of the track member. For instance, the walls 21 will upon comparison of Figures 1 and 3, be seen to lie transversel beneath flangeways of the member, while e wall 18 bisects the angle of the mergin tread portions 1', 2', and other walls w' be found to appcuxunate the longitudinal lines of the tread portions, while still others are substantially continuous from one side flange of the traclgiuemher to the other so as to form sustaining bridges for the whole structure.

An important feature of the invention resides in the fact that instead of having supporting flanges on the under side of the casting corresponding in position to the tread and guard rail portions of the member, and with occasional transverse spacing ribs, the under side of the casting comprises a substantially continuous mass underlying substantially its entire area, and in this mass are formed approximately tubular cells or recesses which avoid angles or corners from which cracks can start, and which present the remaining partition walls in such widely diverse positions as to distribute horizontal strdsses throughout themass rather than in limited directions.

I claim:

1. A cast steel track member having upon its under side a substantially continuous integral sustaining mass, and having said mass formed with a plurality of isolated recesses subdividing the mass into variously directed reinforcing walls.

2. A cast steel track member having upon its under side an integral sustaining mass underlying substantially the entire area of the member, and having said mass formed with a lurality of isolated recesses subdividing t 1e mass into variously directed reinforcin walls, some of which underlie longitudina lines of tread portions of the track member while others extend transversely thereof.

3. A cast steel track member constructed upon its under side with an integral reinforcing mass underlyin substantially the entire area of said mem r formed with a pluralit of vertically extendin recesses subdivi ing the mass into various y directed sustaining walls which intersect and truss one another. a

4. A cast steel track member having tread and flangeway portions, and having-beneath it and underlying substantially its entire area an integral mass of metal formed with vertical recesses spaced apart and leaving between, them strengthening walls.

6. A cast steel track member having tread and flangeway portions, and having beneath it and underlying substantial] its entire area an integral mass of metal l ormed with vertical recesses spaced apart and leaving between them strengthening walls; some of said walls extending from side to side of said track member.

6. A cast steel track member havingtread and flangeway portions, and having beneath it and underlying substantially its entire area an integral mass of metal formed with vertical recesses spaced apart and leaving between them strengthening walls some of said walls extending from side to side of said track member, and others thereof intersecting and bracing said transversely extending walls.

7 A cast steel track member having tread and flangeway portions; said track member being constructed beneath said portions with a -u i stantially continuous integral reinforr' in" mass of metal formed with numerous isrilaterl recesses leaving connected walls; said recesses extending vertically toward but terminating short of the tread and flangeway portions, and leaving beneath the latter a horizontally continuous body of metal.

8. A caststeel track member having tread and flangeway portions; said track member bein constructed beneath said portions with a substantially continuous integral reinforcing mass of metal formed with numerous isolated recesses leaving connected walls; said recesses extending vertically toward but terminating short of the tread and fiangeway portions and leaving: beneath the latter a horizontally continuous body of metal; the lower plane of said reinforcing mass being voincident with the supporting plane of the track member.

Signed at Illinois, this 24th day of July, 1922.

WESLEY G. Moi-ions 

